# Cuban VS Dominican Cohiba ?



## RPB67 (Mar 26, 2005)

Found this article today !

http://cigars.about.com/library/weekly/aa020302a.htm


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## croatan (Mar 23, 2005)

I don't know who wrote it, but that article is all wrong--and very poorly written. 

The following is the first couple of paragraphs from a paper I wrote last fall about the trademark controversy (citations omitted). If anyone wants the whole thing, just pm me.

Though the term “cohiba” dates back centuries (the first Cuban settlers used the term to refer to the coarse, rolled up leaves that were smoked at the time), the cigar line is one of the newest produced on the small island. Though stories abound as to how the marca came into existence, it is undisputed that Cubatabaco, a Cuban government-owned tobacco company, first registered the name in Cuba in 1969. Between 1969 and 1982, COHIBAs were available only in a few outlets in Cuba and were enjoyed by Cuban President Fidel Castro, high-ranking officials in his government, and foreigners who were fortunate enough to receive them as official gifts. In June of 1982, to much fanfare, Cubatabaco launched international commercials sales of COHIBAs at a World Cup event in Madrid.

Dominican COHIBAs

In February, 1978, a General Cigar employee who had purportedly learned of COHIBA from a friend who had visited Cuba on behalf of the State Department and was given COHIBA cigars discussed the brand with Culbro’s chairman (Culbro was General Cigar’s parent company at the time). Within a month, General Cigar applied to register the mark in the United States. In July of that year, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) asked General Cigar “whether the term COHIBA has any meaning or significance in the relevant trade or industry.” General Cigar claimed it did not. In March, 1979, General Cigar claimed, in response to USPTO questioning, that COHIBA was “wholly arbitrary” and “fanciful and arbitrary.” 

General Cigar sold Dominican made cigars under the COHIBA name beginning in 1978. These below-average quality cigars were sold in drugstores and as bundles. Due to a lack of demand, General Cigar discontinued the line in 1987. In 1992, an issue of Wine Spectator described a COHIBA as Cuba’s “finest” cigar. The magazine reported that COHIBA was “the hot brand” in London’s cigar shops and that COHIBA cigars were revered by cigar aficionados like Lafite or Petrus were treasured by wine connoisseurs. That same year, the premier issue of Cigar Aficionado magazine gave the COHIBA Robusto a perfect score of 100 points. By the end of that year, General Cigar took steps to reintroduce their COHIBA cigars as a super-premium line in the United States. According to an employee, General Cigar "wanted to somehow capitalize on the success of the Cuban brand, and especially at this point in time the good ratings that it got, the notoriety that it got from Cigar Aficionado.”


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## ToddziLLa (Oct 17, 2005)

Thanks for the link Richard! That is a cool, albeit confusing article on Cohiba.



n00b who wrote that article said:


> I have smoked the Cuban and the red dot Cohibas. Both are very good but totally different. They might as well be different brands. *I prefer the red dots* but that is a matter of taste.


Are you kidding me? :sl

And croatan, I would love to read that paper! Could you e-mail it to me please?


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## croatan (Mar 23, 2005)

ToddziLLa said:


> And croatan, I would love to read that paper! Could you e-mail it to me please?


Sure. PM me your email address.


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## scc135 (Feb 6, 2006)

red dots over real cohibas? :Shrugs: I'm sure most if not all would take the ISOM... I mean... if we could get them...


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## vtdragon (Nov 23, 2005)

Thanks for the article Richard, I've long been confused about Cohibas and their wide variation in taste and quality. This article helps clear it up somewhat. 

The one thing it does not address is fakes. I just got back from Jamaica where I got some fakes that were awful. They looked very good and had very nice Cuban bands but tasted terrible. I was forwarned by BOTL's on this forum that there would be lots of fakes in Jamaica, and I expected they were fake when I bought them. But, the price was right, I was curious about the quality and I just wanted a few cigars to smoke on the beach. You get what you pay for.


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## RPB67 (Mar 26, 2005)

Croatan I would like to read as well.

I am PM my email addy as well.


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## sirsmokesalot (Jan 11, 2006)

well i cannot vouch for dominican Cohibas since i wont buy them, but i was recentlyin the dominican and was able to purchase and smoke real cuban cohiba siglio II and it was a very good smoke. i would have perfered to try other types of cubans but it was teh only choice i had and i could be sure they where not fakes.. 

the quality and color of the wrapper was fantastic the burn was good and even, the taste was smooth rich creamy and fantastic.. from what i have seen the dominican cohibas cant even come close to even visual comparison..


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## Blueface (May 28, 2005)

sirsmokesalot said:


> well i cannot vouch for dominican Cohibas since i wont buy them, but i was recentlyin the dominican and was able to purchase and smoke real cuban cohiba siglio II and it was a very good smoke. i would have perfered to try other types of cubans but it was teh only choice i had and i could be sure they where not fakes..
> 
> the quality and color of the wrapper was fantastic the burn was good and even, the taste was smooth rich creamy and fantastic.. from what i have seen the dominican cohibas cant even come close to even visual comparison..


I seriously question why a country that is third world, that grows tobacco itself (very good quality at that), would sell Fidel's stuff.
I would not trust any purported Cuban out of the Dominican Republic.


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## sirsmokesalot (Jan 11, 2006)

Blueface said:


> I seriously question why a country that is third world, that grows tobacco itself (very good quality at that), would sell Fidel's stuff.
> I would not trust any purported Cuban out of the Dominican Republic.


i was exremely suspisous for the exact reason you stated but!! a vast majority of the cigar produced in the DR are for export only so there where very very few legit quality dominican cigars around..

i purchased my cuban from one of the resort stores, so my thought is that the resort is purchasing them not some dominican shop owner.. plus they where in the box with the warranty seals and they had other brands of cubans with warranty seals that seemed to be ligit. i have seen knockoffs and i did see knockoffs at one of the other stores on the resort but they were clearly knockoffs and made it even clearer that the real ones were legit..

the only other place was at the duty free store and once again its a large world wide company, there where like four or five duty free shops and clearly some where local and some where just a part of a chain of duty free making it more understandable that they could have cubans for sale in DR..


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